A rising star in the figure skating world and his mother were among the victims of the devastating Washington, D.C., plane crash Wednesday night, officials confirmed.
Spencer Lane, a top-tier skater from Barrington, Rhode Island, and his mother, Christine Lane, were identified as two of six members of The Skating Club of Boston aboard American Eagle Flight 5342.
All 67 people on the flight perished, along with three aboard the U.S. Military helicopter it collided with.
“Our sport and this club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy,” said club CEO Doug Zeghibe. “Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together six or seven days a week to train and work together. Everyone is like family.”
Lane and his fellow club members were returning from U.S. Figure Skating’s National Development Camp in Kansas, which followed the U.S. Championships.
“Spencer, in the best way possible, was a crazy kid,” Zeghibe recalled. “Highly talented, like incredibly talented. He hadn’t been skating very long and rocketed to the top of the sport. Very fun, very cerebral, a good thinker.”
Other club members on board included skater Jinna Han of Mansfield, Massachusetts, her mother, Jin, and Russian coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
The group had planned to catch a connecting flight from Reagan National Airport to Boston on Wednesday night before tragedy struck.
The deadly crash has sent shockwaves through the U.S. skating community, leaving families, friends, and fellow athletes mourning the immeasurable loss.
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